The Korea International Trade
Association (Chairman, Kim Young-ju) and the 5 Economic Organizations; the
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea Federation of Small and
Medium-sized Businesses, the Federation of Korean Industries and the Federation
of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea hosted a welcome luncheon at
Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong on August 27thby inviting Ethiopian Prime MinisterAbiy Ahmedand the Ethiopian delegation
who were in Korea for an official state visit.

Prime Minister
Abi Ahmed was the president of the Korean-Ethiopian Parliamentary Friendship
Association (2012-2018) and has been promoting reform and opening policies
since his inauguration last year. The welcome luncheon was attended by more
than 130 economic figures, including Prime Minister Abi Ahmed and Ethiopian government
officials, Chairman Kim Young-ju of the Korea International Trade Association, Vice Chairman Kim Jun-dong of
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Vice Chairman Moon Chang-sup of Korea Federation of
Small and Medium-sized Businesses.

Chairman Kim
Young-ju stated in his welcoming speech, "If we expand the economic
cooperation between the two countries by combining Korea's experience and
technology, Ethiopia will have the opportunity to develop the industry and
Korea will have new opportunities in the African markets with unlimited
potential."

At the
‘Korea-Ethiopian Business Forum’ held ahead of the luncheon, Deputy Commissioner Anteneh Alemu
of Investment Operation Division of Ethiopia introduced the local
investment environment and opportunities. Chairman Cha Min-ho of Shin Textile
Solutions and CEO Choo Chang-ho of Ekos and other companies who have expanded
their businesses into Ethiopia shared their experiences of entering into the
Ethiopian market and attracted great deal of attention from the participants.

Chairman Choi Yeon-ho of the Board of Korea-Ethiopia
Foundation who co-organized the forum with the Korea International Trade
Association said, “In July, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa visited Ethiopia as the
first country to visit in Africa and reaffirmed the partnership between the two
countries.” He also stressed, “Since
Korean companies are actively discussing investment in Ethiopia, such as the
Korea-Ethiopian Investment Guarantee Agreement and the establishment of an
industrial complex exclusively for Korean companies, we need to expand the
bilateral economic cooperation.”

Cho Bitna, head
of Eurasia Branch of the Korea International Trade Association, said, “Ethiopia has a consumer market of more than 100 million people and
maintains the highest economic growth in Africa.” She
also added, “We hope that this event will trigger the
economic exchange between the two countries.”